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On February 5th, a remarkable group of 60 friends of Refugees International gathered at a London reception hosted by Lord and Lady Malloch-Brown, two people who have been key supporters of Refugees International’s work throughout our 30 years.

London is full of hard-to-believe history.  I remember the first flat I lived in when I moved there in 1998 was over 300 years old!  All this history made me believe it would have been awe inspiring to hold RI’s first ever European event at Admiralty House-- the site of Winston Churchill’s former home and the location which played host to President Kennedy’s 1962 visit to the UK.  And it really was.  It seemed fitting in Refugees International’s 30th anniversary year to be surrounded by some of the great men and women of modern British politics, media, film, philanthropy, and business.

As RI president Ken Bacon said on that evening, “Refugees International has grown dramatically over the last 10 years, thanks in part to people here tonight.”  It was wonderful being reintroduced to RI through the eyes of newcomers and long-time donors.  Some had never met RI staff before, but had learned about us from a friend or through a radio show and been committed to our work ever since.  Some Londoners had gone on mission with RI in the 1990s and I found it fascinating to hear them describe their experiences in Kurdistan or Rwanda, and how it had impacted their lives.  

Former and current Board members George Soros, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, and Vice Chair Eileen Shields-West made the trip to London to hear Ken and RI senior advocates Andrea Lari (en route to South Sudan) and Kristele Younes present a look at some of the work we are doing to improve the lives of refugees in South Sudan and Iraq.  

Standing among displays of cherry blossoms placed around the room—a little touch of Washington on a snow-covered London night—the highlight for me came towards the end of the speaking program when Ken charged the guests to “become part of our advocacy team tonight.” We then handed out action cards which asked them to urge UK Prime Minister Gordn Brown to play a larger role in helping displaced Iraqis.  “Ending displacement in Iraq,” Ken said, “is an important step to creating a more secure country and region.”

As Lord Malloch-Brown pointed out—he expected that those cards being circulated round the room would end up on either his desk or that of the Prime Minister’s new Foreign Policy officer who was also in attendance.  It struck me as very RI—bold and unafraid to call for change, with the very people who can help make that change possible there in the room with us.  It was fantastic to see our calls for lifesaving action being heard by key leaders in governments not just at home, but around the world.

--Elaine Martyn